Watertown man honored for life of public service

Saturday

Oct 19, 2013 at 12:01 AMOct 19, 2013 at 7:22 PM

For the past 70 years Watertown’s Paul C. Menton has devoted his life to public service, first in the Marines during WWII, then as investigator for the FBI, a State Representative, District Court Judge, and currently serves on the Watertown Housing Partnership.

Adam Sennott

For the past 70 years Watertown’s Paul C. Menton has devoted his life to public service, first in the Marines during WWII, then as investigator for the FBI, a State Representative, District Court Judge, and currently serves on the Watertown Housing Partnership.

Now, the public has dedicated something to him.

State Representative Jonathan Hecht, State Senator William Brownsberger, and members of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation unveiled a sign designating the corner of Grove Street and Greenough Boulevard as Judge Paul C. Menton Corner Friday, October 18. As a state representative, Menton worked to construct Grove Street, which grants Watertown residence access to Greenough Boulevard.

Representative Hecht, who sponsored the bill in the Massachusetts Legislature that made the designation possible, said during the ceremony that in the 1960’s when Greenough Boulevard was being designed, there originally wasn’t going to be any access to it from Watertown except for Arsenal Street, until Menton got involved.

“The years proven how important that decision was,” Hecht said.

While the site was chosen because Menton’s work in getting Grove Street constructed, Hecht also said the ceremony was a way for the community to thank Menton for career as a public servant.

“[He’s] somebody who really deserves the recognition,” Hecht said.

Senator Brownsberger said he was honored to be a part of the dedication.

“It’s very meaningful for me to be part of a recognition of a very valuable lifetime of service Paul has given this community,” Brownsberger said.

Along with Brownsberger, members of the Menton family were also in attendance, including Menton’s grandchildren Tim and Patrick, who serve in the Watertown Police and Fire Departments respectively and recently made headlines for their heroic actions during the April 19, shootout with suspected Boston Bombers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

Both Tim and Patrick said their grandfather was role model for them growing up.

“He set the bar very high,” Tim said.

Though he said that working to construct Grove Street all those years ago wasn’t one of the major things he accomplished, Menton said he was happy about the recognition and to be able to celebrate it with his family.

“It made me feel good, it really did Menton said.

“When you have something like this there’s a certain amount of satisfaction that I know that I’ve led a good life and I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done and that I’ve also succeeded,” Menton said.

Menton said that while he was embarrassed when he first heard about the designation, when he was first told about the designation, when he saw the sign on the corner of Grove Street and Greenough Boulevard, he was pleasantly surprised.

“I was pleased.” Menton said. “I thought I wouldn’t be, but I was pleased. I said, ‘son of a gun, that looks nice.’”

While he was pleased with the sign, Menton said he especially got a kick out of the thought of what people might think when they stop at the red light before they turn onto Greenough Boulevard.

“They’re going to be stopped here at the red light and their going to say, ‘who the hell is that son of a B Menton that’s got me stopped at this red light,” Menton said with a laugh.